Heads For The Dead: Into The Red (Transcending Obscurity) [Matt Bladen]
In our review of Heads For The Dead's debut album, we were complimentary over how vicious their gore-soaked death metal assault was, much like many other publications. Featuring Jonny Pettersson (Wombbath) on guitars, bass, keys and SFX and Ralf Hauber (Revel In Flesh) on vocals on this follow up they have acquired the percussive battery of Ed Warbie (ex-Hail Of Bullets) to add another destructive level to their death metal 'supergroup'. His drumming skill really lifts this album, giving the death metal sound an organic but nasty feel. Into The Red has used this addition to expand on the horror themes on this second album, on the debut the songs shifted between short explosive numbers and more malevolent slower tracks.
Here there is a bit more cohesion allowing a John Carpenter-like atmosphere to be built, meaning that the horror influence is more than just a stylistic choice but an intrinsic part of their sound. Obviously fans of Wombbath, Revel In Flesh and Ursinne will lap this record up but for any fans of death metal Into The Red will tick a lot of boxes as tracks such as the blasting The Coffin Scratcher and Night Ripping Terror, the grinding At The Dead Of Night, more cinematic numbers like the crushing The Seance and even the extreme abuse of Transilvanian Hunger (a Darkthrone cover). 12 tracks of aural abuse from these German death metal veterans that will go down great at your family Xmas. 7/10
Hands Of Attrition: Colder Places (Self Released) [Paul Hutchings]
The West Midlands is fertile ground for metal. Probably the most obvious statement I’ve written since I called Thor some awfully bad things. Meet Hands Of Attrition, a five-piece whose debut album Colder Places is a pulverising 53 minutes of slavering groove metal that gets the sinews twitching from the opening riffs. Now I am partial to a big slice of Lamb Of God, the unintentional flag bearers for a genre that was undoubtedly started by Pantera. But this isn’t a debate about the origins of an often-divisive style, more an inevitable comparison that is trotted out when groove is mentioned. Well, you can park that and instead take a big forward plunge into eleven tracks of muscular, explosive metal that really rage with power. You can hear influences a plenty in this release, something that is commonplace in new music but there is a raging fire that erupts on the opening track Consumed, and which doesn’t relent until the final notes of Nightingale finishes. Two years after their formation, Hands Of Attrition have honed their sound. The blend of metalcore and groove works splendidly, with the jagged razor-edged riffs absolutely punishing.
Tom Alexander Scott’s snarling guttural delivery works on every level, his ability to summon his growls from the depths of his diaphragm whilst also adding a bit of melody impressive. The joint guitar barrage of lead guitarist Anthony Austin-Smith and his six-string partner Christopher Jenney is relentless whilst the rhythm section of James Brunskill on bass and drummer Dale Harrison deliver on every level. Threadbare is a face melting song, whilst the band open up the doom riffed feel on The Becoming. The songs on the album don’t shy away from the challenging subjects of today. The band via Alexander-Scott’s thoughtful lyrics cover mental health and the impact of self-doubt, depression, addiction, and tragedy in one's existence, whilst also invoking resilience and catharsis. Something that should always be highlighted, the band are concerned massively with men’s mental health. "One of the themes for our album is the importance of men’s mental health.
Collectively we, like many, have experienced first-hand the impact self-doubt, depression, addiction, and tragedy can have on mental wellbeing. Every song on the album tells a story and we hope that the same strength can be drawn from our music as we have gained producing it.” Not something you can really argue with a huge subject which needs more unpacking. Whilst Hands Of Attrition focus very much on the sledgehammer delivery, there are plenty of more subtle moments to pick out from this impressive debut. The closing sections of The Becoming for example. But what they do best is the powerful heavy riffing which is consistent throughout the album. A band that I shall be making a mental note of to keep tags on for 2021. This is a very pleasing debut indeed. 8/10
Unruly Child: Our Glass House (Frontiers Music Srl) [Simon Black]
Unruly Child have been ploughing their particular furrow since the early 1990’s, but have somehow not really hit a major stride. I guess getting going (and with the same line up) when Grunge was exploding the whole rock scene does not help, but these folks are all fine musicians whose Hard Rock edged brand of AOR is usually nothing if not reliable. It’s perhaps a good time to play the retro game, given that it’ so much in vogue at the moment, but as a band that were there first time around, they fail to recapture the groove with this particular record. In its favour, the song-writing is fairly robust (if by the numbers) and there are touches of the progressive in some places that hint at the possibility of more if they had let themselves go a little more. I can’t say there are any bad tracks here, but equally nothing new reaches out and grabs you with any enthusiasm.
What this album lacks is energy, and the really flat production sound does not help, particularly the drums (which are tinny to the point of distraction) and really missing that fat ‘death-by-reverb’ sound the genre normally distinguishes itself by. Sadly the tracks that really work are acoustic rehashes of older high notes (
To Be Your Everything and
Let’s Talk About Love). Tacked onto the end of the album as they are they create two very clear and jarring points of contrast – firstly, that these older songs are much better written than the new material. They may be far more retrospective, but they work better because they are of the period. Secondly the production is so completely different for these two that they had to have been recorded and mixed separately from the rest of the album, having as they do the fat, rich sound the rest of the album is screaming out for. Disappointing. 5/10
Nightblade: Ignorance Is Bliss (Self Released) [Alex Swift]
Nightblade performs an exciting if occasionally tedious mixture of grunge and alternative. With a modern sound, the band takes inspiration from the late 90s and early 2000s scene, which helped to ignite nu-metal while being slightly more humble in itself. At its finest, Ignorance Is Bliss proves fun, and eccentric yet. However, there are plenty of moments across its nearly hour-long run length when it slows to a tiring and laborious crawl. A mixed record yet not one which will provoke your emotions in either direction. Title-track, Ignorance Is Bliss begins the album in an ambitious style. It is an ambitious opener which makes for a frantic and memorable first impression. I’m almost tempted to say that the piece is too memorable in that with its length and its seemingly ceaseless repetition, you might find yourself fast-forwarding through this one. The production and delivery of each of the elements might be an acquired taste – there are clear nods to classic rock, except with a modern slant on the writing, which makes for a weird if admittedly unique mismatch. Steering The Wheel exudes a wave of dark anger, which works against the fuzzy guitars and the growled problems. The problem being, they don’t diversify the track enough to make for an engaging listen from start to finish. This is a key problem for Nightblade.
The musicianship is decent, the songwriting is decent, yet they don’t have the same knack for subtlety or brevity that leaned their influences so much charm. This isn’t just a problem for them – plenty of acts who pay homage to their legacies set out with noble intentions and end up making bloated, overlong records that fail to emulate that same magic that classic acts brought to the table. And yet, I think on the scale of pastiche acts, these are one of the most endearing. Only You and Never Take For Granted might be the best song here, the writing proving inspiring and layered in a way that feels genuine and impassioned. The problem with this act isn’t so much a lack of originality, rather a lack of conviction to carry the innovative ideas through. When they do employ experimentation as on the erratic What If, they show their potential as musicians with an appreciation for making metal funky and danceable, yet also introspective and emotional. Sadly though, for every aspect of this album that I can point to as an example of ‘clever and quirky,’ there’s one that I can point to as ‘redundant and disappointing’. Further From The Truth, with the illusions to glam, is one that I can enjoy at the moment, despite forgetting almost immediately after.
Take Me As I Am is incredibly repetitive and once more, far too long. The same could be said of what is probably the worst song here, Immune To It All. That said, Find The Strength Within and Stop, do close us out on a more vulnerable and epic note, which feels like the right decision in helping the piece to feel consequential and well rounded. Overall, while Ignorance Is Bliss is far from a latecomer to the albums I will remember from 2020 and has major problems underpinning it as a record, it’s still very competent both in terms of the execution and how the inspirations are employed. In that sense, while it won’t be making any year-end lists, I think it deserves the award for being “king of the mundane” 5/10